State Patrol: Wisconsin Motorists Slowing Down

MILWAUKEE -- A State Patrol official said Wisconsin motorists appear to be slowing down.

Transportation safety director Dan Lonsdorf said the rising cost of gasoline is one of the biggest factors in the reduced speeds.

State troopers and sheriff's deputies also are reporting that they are seeing fewer vehicles on the state's freeways, and traffic fatalities have dropped 29 percent this year.

The state Department of Transportation found that motorists on four-lane state highways and freeways have reduced their average speed by a little more than 1 mph over the last year.

Lonsdorf said the big chunk of fatality reduction is that people are slowing down and traveling less.